Judge set to order journalists to reveal sources

By Louise Hall

February 1, 2012 — 11.18am

A judge is proposing to order three Fairfax journalists to hand over documents to a Chinese-Australian businesswoman that reveal their sources for a series of stories on her relationship with a federal Labor MP.

In the NSW Supreme Court this morning, Justice Lucy McCallum said she planned to order The Age newspaper, and the journalists Richard Baker, Philip Dorling and Nick McKenzie to give Helen Liu access to documents in their possession that relate to the identity of the sources.

Joel Fitzgibbon, left, and Helen Liu, second from right, at The One Hundred Generals Calligraphy and Art Exhibition.

The journalists had revealed links between Ms Liu and then defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

Justice McCallum restricted publication of her 60-page judgment to the lawyers for both parties and will return at 2pm to hear submissions on a non-publication order relating to one of the exhibits. It is expected that Justice McCallum will make the order on revealing the journalists' sources then.

Advertisement

Helen Liu ... court action.Credit:Peter Rae

She told Tom Blackburn, SC, for The Age, that her orders were written to accommodate the timing issues that might arise from an appeal from the defendants.

In 2010, the newspaper reported that Ms Liu, a Labor Party donor and family friend of Mr Fitzgibbon, had paid him $150,000, which he did not declare.

The payment was allegedly revealed in a copy of Ms Liu's personal finance records obtained by the journalists.

But Ms Liu said the documents, including a list of "money paid" for unstated purposes to 22 people, were fabricated.

Ms Liu has also issued a writ of defamation against The Age, although it has not been served.

In a highly unusual move, Ms Liu has also issued a writ against a "John Doe" said to be the source.

During the hearing in February last year, Mr Blackburn told the court Ms Liu did not need to compel the journalists to reveal their source because she already knew or believed a person called David Liu was the source.

At no stage have lawyers for The Age accepted the contention that Mr Liu was a source for its reports.